Rate My Professor Richard Menary

Richard Menary is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Humanities at Macquarie University, a position he has held since 2018. He served as Head of the Department of Philosophy from 2018 to 2023 and currently is Head of School of Humanities. From 2014 to 2018, he was an ARC Future Fellow funded for his project on the enculturated brain, examining how culture transforms the brain and extends cognitive capabilities. Prior to that, from 2011 to 2014, he was a Senior Research Fellow in the ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders at Macquarie. Earlier appointments include Senior Lecturer and Head of Philosophy Program at the University of Wollongong, Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, and teaching positions at the University of Kent and Birkbeck College, University of London. Menary holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of Ulster, an MSc in Cognitive Science from the University of Birmingham, and a PhD in Philosophy from King's College London.

His research specializes in the philosophy of mind and cognition, with a focus on extended, embodied, and enculturated cognition. He investigates cognitive integration, niche construction, and how cultural practices shape cognitive processes. Notable publications include the monograph Cognitive Integration: Mind and Cognition Unbounded (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), which posits that cognitive systems integrate neural, bodily, and environmental elements. Menary edited the influential volume The Extended Mind (MIT Press, 2010), compiling key essays on the topic. Recent articles comprise "The Tools of Enculturation" (Topics in Cognitive Science, 2022, with Alexander Gillett), "Growing Minds: Pragmatic Habits and Enculturation" (2021), and "Are Markov Blankets Real and Does it Matter?" (in The Philosophy and Science of Predictive Processing, 2021). He was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship (FT130100960) and elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2022. Menary's contributions have advanced understanding of 4E cognition frameworks in philosophy and cognitive science.